


Another Time

by December21st



Category: Castle
Genre: Castleland, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-11 13:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/December21st/pseuds/December21st
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Castle and Beckett had lived in the wild west?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Rewriting History" challenge at LiveJournal's Castleland, where the challenge was to write a short Castle fic changing the setting of Castle to a time in the past. Written in 2010.

The doors to the sheriff’s office burst open. The first person through is a large, brutish man wearing the clothes of a ranch hand, his skin tanned and leathery after a lifetime outdoors, his scraggly beard unkempt. At first Benedict Mason thinks that this is the sheriff, the man he’s been waiting for well over two hours. The large man is immediately followed by a woman wearing men’s clothing, a gun strapped to her right leg. She’s pretty in spite of her unconventional clothing – or perhaps because of it. The duster and slouch hat compliment her looks. Deputy Ryan immediately grabs a ring of keys off the wall, guiding the large man to the cell at the back of the room. The woman is arguing with another man who has followed her into the room, well-dressed and apparently wealthy.

“I told you not to look in those crates. I know I did. And what did you do? What is, in fact, the very first thing you did?” The woman sounds like she’s scolding a child.

“I just wanted to see if there was any evidence that Billy here is the one that robbed those New Yorkers.” The man defends himself plaintively.

“Billy, did you rob those city folk?” The woman calls back to large man, now securely in the cell.

“Yeah, but it shouldn’t count. They didn’t have nothing good. And you owe me one for killing Rover. He was a good boy. I raised him from when he was little.”

Mason decides that it’s his turn. He approaches the well-dressed man. “Sheriff? I’m Benedict Mason; I understand that you’re acquainted with Richard Castle, the author? I was hoping that you could introduce me to him; I have a business deal I’d like to discuss with him.”

The man smiles, like Mason’s just told a good joke. “Mr. Mason, this is your lucky day. I’m Richard Castle, and I’d like to introduce you to Kate Beckett.” Castle gestures towards the woman, who shakes Mason’s hand. Her handshake is strong and efficient, not the dainty washrag of most women and not a few men. Castle has saved the best for last. “Sheriff Beckett.”

“Not a lot of women with your job,” Mason observes, curious to see how she’ll react.

“Yeah, well, my opponent died a week before the election. I won by seven votes.” Beckett’s pragmatic, but not offended.

“Why’d you kill his dog?” Mason asks, gesturing towards Billy in his cell.

Beckett snorts. “Rover was his pet rattlesnake. It bit Castle, who was screaming like a little girl. I had to stop and suck the venom out before it killed him.” Mason notices that Castle has a handkerchief wrapped around one finger. The mental image of those beautiful lips sucking on one of Castle’s fingers makes Mason suddenly blush.

“What did you want with me, Mr. Mason?” Castle asks him, his wound temporarily forgotten.

“I’m from your publisher, Mr. Castle. About the penny dreadfuls that you write about Nikki Heat, the beautiful woman who works for the New York City police force. The public loves them, because they’re so fanciful, so unrealistic.”

“What do you think?”

Mason can’t keep his eyes off of Sheriff Beckett, who’s talking to her deputies. “I think they’re not realistic enough.”


End file.
